Driving mechanism.



B.` R. WRIGHT.

yDRIVING MECHANISM'. APPLICATION FILED JULY 16,'1'912.

Patented Apr. 15, 1913.

WIT/VESSES" ,47m/MEX BEM n. WEIGHT, or roUeHxEErsrE',

NEW yonx, assrenon 'ro THE DE Lavar.

sErAnA'roE. COMPANY, A conroizrroN or NEW 'JEEsEia DRIVING MEGHANISE.

To all lwhom, t may concern.' y l Be it known that I, BERT R. Wnl'er'rr,Va citizen of the United States, residing at Poughkeepsie, county ofDutchess, and State of New. York, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in DrivingI Mechanism, of which the following is a full,clear, and exact description, referencebeing had to the accompanyingdrawings, which form a part of this specification.

In some classes of machinery, particularly centrifugal cream separators,the driving shaft, which inthat case isa high speed Spindle carrying theseparatin bowl, is provided with a worm sleeved t ereon and having atoothed driving clutch member adapted to coact with a toothed drivenclutch member xedly mounted so as to rotate with the driving shaft orspindle, vthe worm being driven by a worm wheel; In such 'construction,when the wormwheel isk operated, the worm mounted upon the spindle orshaft is moved so that its carried toothed driving clutch member engagesthe shaft driven clutch member and the shaft is revolved. When the poweris no longer applied, the movement of the shaft or spindle will causethe separation of the toothed drivingclutch member from the drivenclutch member upon the shaft, the toothed driving clutch member risinguntil it strikes a projection.

With centrifugal separators, the rotation of the spindle carrying thebowl is very rapid. With the construction described, after the power hasceased to be ap lied .to the worm wheel, it often occurs tratl thesleeved worm will not be held in its elevated position during theslowingdown and stops ping of the spindle, there being periodical oreven constant contact between the teeth of the worm clutch member andthe teeth of the driven clutch member. This produces a clicking sound bythe clutch teeth of, the worm clutch member and the shaft clutch memberstriking each other. Moreover,

such striking produces an abrasion which, in time, seriously affects thedriving .connection between the spindle clutch member and the wormclutch member. t

I have discovered that if a slight friction 'be interposed between theworm sleeve'and the spindle or shaft, the spindle rotation,

specmmion of imm raient. v Patented Apr. 15, 1913. Application led uly1'6, 1912. Serial Zlio. 709,632.

after` the application `of power to the worin wheel has ceased, willcause a" coaction betweennthe worm and worm wheel to cause theworm andits clutch membervto be ositlvely llf ,d and held from falling. t hisfriction should bells'light, as it -is notv desited to keep the ,wormwheel in4 operation, except when operating `the' machine, The friction,therefore, should be' such that this operative connection ceases whenthe worm rises sufficiently to strike the projection.

,t have devised an effective construction for thispurpose which"consists in interposinga spring between the shaft and the inner surfaceofthe worm sleeve. More specifically I provide a longitudinal slot iiitlie S miie iii which I Secure a bei-if. wir@ geinig; t e projectingsurface of which spring rests against the inner surface of the worinsleeve. v, When the worin is operated, the worm clutch member is broughtinto' coaotion with the spindle 'clutch'ymernber andthe worm 'clutchmember, acts to drive the spindle `clutch member `and thusuthe spindle;,When the operation of the worin ceases driving the spindle,the sleeveclutch member tends to be. lifted `along the shaft or spindle. Witht-his interposed spring, under these conditions, the worm and worm wheelwill act respectively asa screw and mit, and the worm willbe positivelylifted. K

`Whenin the lifting` the worm sleeve strikes the projection, limitingits upward movement, the resistance will cause the friction connectionof the spindle and worm sleeve to be broken duringjfurther rotatiiiiidthe worm wheel is no longer affected, but. the worm wheel will preventany falling of the worin sleeve uien the spindle Comes to rsi, as anytendency to' fall will caiisetlie frictiontofagain come into action andthe just described yco.actien between vthe worm and wheel vvill beresumed. A .Y Y

I will now ,describe the embodiment of my invention, illust "ated in'the accompanyin fdrawings, in whichp y vigurewl is a sectional view of aportion of va cream separator. embodying my invention. Fig.`,2 1s anenlarged elevation of Ithe spindle. t Fig. 3 shows a portion of -thespindle withpart broken away. Fig. 4 is an enlarged section on line 4 4,Fig. 3;

mounted. A v plied to the worm wheel g, throughl t e erative position,like a pawl and ratchet.

g is a worm wheel, coacting with the worm d and o erated, vthroughgearing, by the crank 11,.' en the crank is turned in the 'direction ofthe arrow to operate, the sleeve carrying the worm is moved downward,sothat its toothed clutch member e engages,A the tooth clutch member f ofthe shaft or spindle b.

LL z'is a longitudinal slot in the shaft or spindle b. Inthis slotz' isplaced and secured a, `.bent wire spring j, so that the spring run'slengthwise of the spindle and its pro3ecting surface rests against theinner surface of the sleeve c, that is, the spring j is interposedbetween the sleeve o and the shaft or spindle-b,'u yn which said sleeve4is loosely en the power is no longer a crank h, the free rotation ofthe splndle b lifts the sleeve, so as to free its clutch member from theshaft or spindle clutch mem- 'wheel is againV operated, through the me'-ber.y The spring j, heretofore described, maintains sufficient frictionv between the worm sleeve and the spindle to cause the worm tos'revolve,by coacting with the worm wheel in the manner and for'the purposehereinbeforedescribed. When the worm dium of .its crank h, the sleeve 0,carrying the worm d is positively moved alon the shaft orspindle b untilthe toothed c utch members of the worm land shaft are again inengagement, when the shaft is again revolved by the rotation of the wormwheel.

Having now fully described my invent-ion, what I claim and desire toprotect by Letters Patent is:l

1. In a driving mechanism, the combination of a shaft, a worm looselymounted on said shaft and movable'lengthwise of said shaft, a drivenmember revolving with the shaft adapted when the worm is rotated to makedriving connection between said worm and shaft`and to move said wormlengthwisey vof the shaft when in the rotation of the shaft said worm isnot driven, and a friction` deviceftending to maintain "contact betweenthe worm and shaft in the lengthf .wise 'movement f the worm.

2.v vIn a driving mechanism, the combinavtion vof ashaft, a worm looselymounted on said shaft and movable lengthwise of said shaft, a drivenmember revolving with the shaft adapted when the worm is rotated to makedriving connection between said worm and shaft and to move said wormlengthwise of the shaft when in the rotation of the sha-ft said worm isnot driven, and a friction device tending to maintain contact betweenthe worm and shaft in the lengthwise movement of the worm, said shafthaving a sto for limiting the longitudinal movement. o the worm.

3. In a driving mechanism, the combination of al shaft, a clutch memberrevolvin with said shaft, a worm sleeved upon' sai shaft and having aclutch member adapted in one position of the worm sleeve to coact withthe shaft clutch member, a worm wheel adapted to engage with said worm,

and a friction device interposed between the interior of the worm andshaft.

4. In a driving mechanism, the combination of a shaft, a clutch memberrevolvin with said shaft, a worm sleeved upon sai shaft and having aclutchA Vmember adapted in one position of the worm sleeve to coact withthe shaft clutch member, a worm wheel' -adapted to enga e .with saidworm and a spring interpose between the interior of the worm and shaft.

5. In a'driving mechanism, the combination of a shaft, a clutch memberrevolvin with saidshaft, a worm sleeved upon said shaft and having aclutch member adapted in one position ofthe worm to coact with the shaftclutch member, a 'worm wheel adapted to engage with said worm, and aspring fixedly secured to the shaft and contacting with said worm andagainst the action of which said worm lifts.

6; In adriving mechanism, the combination of a shaft, a clutch memberrevolvin with the shaft, a worm sleeved upon the sha and having a clutchmember, a worm wheel engaging the worm and adapted when actuated to movethe worm llengthwise of the shaft to bring its clutch member intodriving engagement with the clutch member turning with thev shaft,whereby the shaft is rotated, and means to increase the friction betweenthe worm and the shaft, whereby, when in the rotation of the shaft theworm ceases to be driven bythe wormwheel, the movement and retention ofthe worm out of engagement with the driven clutch member will beinsured. y A

7. In a driving mechanism, the combination of a shaft, a driving clutchmember movable lengthwise of the shaft, a driven clutch memberrevolvingwith the shaft and adaptedfwhcn not driven to" move the drivingclutch mem-ber along the shaft outof engagement with the driven clutchmember, means to actuate the driving clutch member and move it alon theshaft into engagement with the drlven clutch member, and

means to increase the friction between the In testimony of whichinvention, I have driving clutch member and the shaft Wherehereunto setmy hand at Poughkeepsie N. by any tendency of the driving clutch mem- Y.on this 3 day of J uly, A. D. 1912. ber, when disengaged from the drivenclutch A BERT R. WRIGHT.

5 member, to move back on the shaft into con- Witnesses:

tact with the driven clutch member will Jol-1N B. GRUBB, be resisted andovercome. REGINALD VANLENDEN.

